Stock quotation printer



O P. GEILICH STOCK QUOTATION PRINTER March 19, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1?; 1964 0 o l L R Q m mm 3 0m mm a .2 3 m\ mm O Nw o O S INVENTOR OTTO F2 GEILICH ATTORNEY United States Patent Filed Mar. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 352,460 7 Claims. (Cl. 178-34) This invention relates to a telegraph tape printer for printing stock quotations and more particularly to a telegraph printer for printing characters selectively on two levels of a tape, commonly known as a stock ticker.

With the large volumes of stock transactions occurring in days of heavy trading on the stock market, the so called high speed stock tickers have been unable to keep up with the transactions occurring at the exchanges. Consequently, with the currently used stock tickers, the ticker frequently lags behind the market by as much as two or three hours.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the time lag between the occurrences of transactions on the stock exchange and the reporting of the transactions to outlying points.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stock quotation printer operable at higher speeds than those provided heretofore.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a simple mechanism for selecting and preparing only one of a pair of print hammers in a stock ticker for actuation in each cycle of the ticker.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention certain features of which are described and claimed in the copending application of L. A. Nash, Ser. No. 352,459 filed Mar. 17, 1964, a receiving selector mechanism is provided for controlling the selective actuation of a plurality of code bars which control the operation of an aggregate motion type of mechanism which in turn will position a type box longitudinally to a selected one of a multiplicity of positions and will shift the type box laterally to one-of two positions so that two type pallets in the type box are moved to operative association with a pair of print hammers operable selectively to print on one of two levels of a tape positioned in association with the type box.

In the preferred form of the invention, one of the code bars shifts an interposer member into position to engage a cam surface on one of two print hammer driving members so that the interposer, which is actuated in each cycle of the apparatus, will move the print hammer driving member that has been selected into a position to actuate its associated print hammer. The driving member is latched in that position until the return movement of the machine element which had moved the driving member to its latched position releases a latching lever to permit the driving member to actuate its print hammer.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein,

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a stock quotation printer constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the print hammer actuator portion of the printer taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2, in the direction of the arrows, showing details of the latch mechanism and print hammer driving member;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially 3,374,314 Patented Mar. 19, 1968 ing the print hammer levers and details of the print hammer mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 looking upwardly at the mechanism for selecting and actuating one or the other of the print hammer driving members.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate the same parts throughout the several views, particular reference being had to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the apparatus includes an orientation device or range finder designated generally by the numeral 11 for adjusting a selector mechanism designated generally by the numeral 12 to incoming line signals. The range finder mechanism preferably is of the type disclosed in detail in the patent to C. W. Swan, No. 2,624,799 issued Jan. 6, 1953, and the selector mechanism 12 is preferably of the type shown in the patent to W. J. Zenner No. 2,595,745, issued May 6, 1952. The range finder mechanism 11 and selector mechanism 12 are described in detail in the aforementioned patents to which reference may be had for the details of the operation of them. As described in the patent to W. J. Zenner, above-identified, incoming telegraph signals are applied to an electromagnet 13 which controls the operation of the selector mechanism 12 and through the selector mechanism 12 controls the setting of code bars 14. The setting of the code bars 14 is effected by Y levers 15 and, while the code bars 14 are the same as the code bars of the Zenner patent, in the present invention they simply serve to actuate a series of clutches (not shown) in an aggregate motion mechanism designated generally by the numeral 16. This aggregate motion mechanism 16 may be of any suitable type but preferably is of the same general type as that shown in the patent to H. Pfannenstiehl No. 1,533,- 207, issued Jan. 31, 1923. This patent shows an aggre gate motion mechanism having a plurality of clutches that are actuated selectively to cause the aggregate motion mechanism to position a type-wheel.

In the structure embodying the present invention the aggregate motion mechanism 16 drives an output link 17 (FIGS. 1 and 2) that is pivotally connected to a type box support 18 in which a type box 19 is mounted. The type box 19 is provided with four rows of type pallets 20 and the aggregate motion mechanism 16 through the link 17 will move the type box to any one of sixteen positions to align a level of four rows of type pallets 20 with a printing position where two of the rows of type pallets 20 will be aligned with print hammers 21 and 22, respectively. The type box 19 is slidably mounted on a support member 23 and may be reciprocated longitudinally on the support member 23 by the link 17. The support member 23 is in turn carried upon a pair of slides 24 of exactly the same construction located at opposite ends of the apparatus. Only one of the slides 24 is shown and it is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing as being slidable on posts 25.

The present apparatus is designed for operation under control of a six-unit code wherein the first four units of the code will control the longitudinal movement of the type box 19 to select any one of sixteen levels of four type pallets 20 and position them in alignment with the print hammers 21 and 22. The fifth unit of the code controls the movement of the slides 24 to position two out of the four rows of type pallets 20 in alignment with the print hammers 21 and 22. The sixth unit of the code selects one or the other of the print hammers 21 or 22 for actuation, thus to make the final selection of the type 20 to be actuated. The lateral shifting of the type box 19 to align two rows of type 20 with the hammers 21 and 22 is effected by oscillating a shaft 31 (FIG. 1)

along the line 4-4 in the direction of the arrows, showin one direction or the other under control of a clutch (not shown) which is tripped by the No. 5 code bar 14.

The shaft 31 has gears 32 fixed on it which mesh with racks 33 formed on the slides 24. Only one rack 33 and one gear 32 are shown but it will be apparent that the gears 32 and racks 33 are positioned adjacent opposite ends of the apparatus to move the slides 24 in a rectilinear path. The selection of the print hammer 21 or 22, to be operated, is controlled by the No. 6 code bar 14 which acts directly on a lever 34 to rock the lever 34 in one direction or the other, about a pivot post 35 (FIG. 2).

As is usual in stock quotation printers the alphabetic characters which identify the stock are printed on the top row .of a tape and the numerical characters indicating the sale price of the stock are printed on the bottom row of the tape as indicated by the letter T and the number 135 shown on the tape 36 in FIG. 1. The tape 36 is fed step-by-step to the printing position by a knurled roller 37 (FIG. 2) which has one step of rotation imparted to it after each printing cycle of the machine. A hand wheel 38 is also provided for feeding the tape manually out of the printer when desired. The tape 36 is held in engagement with the knurled feed roller 37 by a pressure roller 39. An inked ribbon feeding mechanism designated generally by the numeral 40 guides a ribbon 41 between the type bearing ends of the type pallets 20 and the upper surface of the tape 36.

- The type box will be moved through eight increments of travel by the aggregate motion mechanism if the first element of the code received in the selector is of opposite polarity (marking instead of spacing) or vice versa from the first code element received in the selector during the previous Cycle, through four increments of travel if the second code element is opposite in polarity from the second code element of the previous cycle, one increment of travel if the third code element is opposite and two increments of travel if the fourth code element is opposite. Thus, if element one and two are opposite from those previously received signals the type box will be moved eleven increments. In this manner the first four pulses of the received code combination will control the longitudinal positioning of the type box 19 in its sixteen positions.

Since, as described hereinbefore, the fifth element or unit of the code combination controls the positioning of the type box 19 in its two lateral positions, the sixth unit or element of the code is used to select one or the other of the print hammers 21 and 22 for operation and this selection is effected by the No. 6 code bar 14 through the operation of the lever 34.

At its lower end as viewed in FIG. 2, the lever 34 has Y a bifurcated end 45 into which there extends a pivot stud 46 that is in turn fixed to the No. 6 code bar 14. The pivot post 35 on which the lever 34 is pivoted is mounted on a horizontally extending portion 43 of a bracket 44. The upper end of lever 34 has a slot 47 formed in it into which there extends a drive post 48 that is fixed to a slidable plate 49. The slidable plate 49 is mounted for reciprocatory movement on a pair of guide posts 50 which extend upwardly from the horizontal portion 43 of the bracket 44 and serve to guide the plate 49 when it is moved by the lever 34.

The bracket 44 is mounted on the underside of a casting 55 suitably attached to the framework of the apparatus. This casting 55 has journalled in it a print hammer actuating shaft 56 which is oscillated through a predetermined arc once in each cycle of the apparatus. Suitably fixed to the shaft 56 is a crank member 57 which has its depending end pivoted to a drive link 58 that is pivoted to a drive crank 59. Crank 59 is in turn fixed to a secondary drive shaft 60 which is oscillated by a suitable cam, not shown, once in each cycle of the apparatus, that is, once for each complete code combination received by the selector mechanism 13. The print hammer actuating shaft 56 has fixed to it a drive arm 61 in which there is slidably mounted a T-shaped interposer member 62.

The interposer member 62 has a projecting leg portion 63 which extends into a slot 64 formed in the slidable plate 49 and has a cross portion 65 of cylindrical shape that rides in a cylindrically shaped guide portion 66 formed in the drive arm 61. The cylindrical guide portion 66 is formed at the upper end (the left end as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4) of a slot 67 in the drive arm 61. The cross portion 65 of the interposer member 62 serves as the interposer portion of this member and the leg portion 63, upon movement of the slidable plate 49, serves to switch the cross portion 65 into association with one or the other of a pair of hammer driving members 71 or 72.

As pointed out hereinbefore the horizontal plate 49 may be shifted by the lever 34 to effect the selection of a print hammer 21 or 22 for operation. When the horizontal plate 49 is moved to either of its selected positions it will be resiliently latched in that position by a latch member 73 which is suitably pivoted on horizontally extending portion 43 of the bracket 44 and is urged to rock counterclockwise (FIG. 2) by a contractile spring 74. The latch member 73 has a pair of notches 75 formed in it with which a latching post 76 fixed to the slidable plate 49 may register thus to retain the plate 49 in either of its selected positions.

The print hammer carrying shaft 56 is oscillated once in each cycle of operation of the apparatus so that in each cycle of operation the drive arm 61 will be oscillated from the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in a counterclockwise direction and then returned to the position shown. When the drive arm 61 is thus oscillated it will move the leg portion 63 of the T-shaped interposer member 62 from the position shown in FIG. 5 up to the upper end of the slot 64 as viewed in that figure and then will return the leg portion 63 to the position shown. With the T-shaped interposer member 62 in the position shown in FIG. 5 the left end (FIG. 5) of the cross portion 65 will be positioned beneath the hammer driving member 71 and the right hand end (FIG. 5) of the cross portion.

65 will be spaced from the hammer driving member 72. Thus when shaft 56 is rocked counterclockwise as 'viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4 the cross portion 66 will engage a cam surface 79 on the hammer driving member 71 which is of exactly the same configuration as the cam surface 79 on the hammer driving member 72 illustrated in FIG. 3. The hammer driving members 71 and 72 are pivoted on a pivot shaft 80 which is mounted in a pair of upwardly extending legs 81 of the bracket 44 and the hammer driv ing members 71 and 72 are normally urged down (clockwise, FIG. 3) by contractile springs 82 and 83 individual to them. Each of the hammer driving members 71 and 72 has a shoulder 93 formed on it for registration with the latching shoulder 84 formed on a bell crank lever or latch 85 individual to the hammer driving members 71 and 72. The bell crank levers or latches 85 are individually pivoted on pivot pins 86 mounted on rearwardly bent portions 87 of the casting 101. The levers or latches 85 are urged to rock clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3 by contractile springs 88. In the normal, static condition of the apparatus, the levers or latches 85 are held in the position shown in FIG. 5 by an adjustable restoring member 89 mounted in a plate 90 that is in turn fixed to the shaft 56. When the shaft 56 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 3, the spring 88 will rock the lever or latch 85 clockwise about the pivot pin 86 to bring the leftwardly extending arm of the bell crank levers 85 to bear against the shoulders 93 on the hammer driving members 71 and 72. If one of the hammer driving members 71 or 72 is rocked counterclockwise (FIG. 3) about the pivot shaft 80, through the interaction of its cam 79 and the interposer member 62, the latching shoulder 84 will be permitted to move under the shoulder 93 on the actuated one of the hammer driving members 71 or 72 temporarily to latch that hammer driving member in a cocked position. Upon the shaft 56 being rocked clockwise in the latter part of its oscillation, the bell crank lever or latch 85 will be rocked by the restoring member 89 to release the member 71 or 72 which had been latched up.

Also pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft 80 are a pair of print hammer levers 94 and 95 which are individually urged to follow the movements of their associated print hammer driving members 71 and 72 by coil springs such as the coil spring 96 (FIG. 4) which has one end attached to the hammer driving member and the other end attached to the print hammer lever. Upward movement of the print hammer levers 94 and 95 with respect to their associated hammer driving members 71 and 72 is limited by projections 97 extending from the respective hammer driving members over their associated print hammer levers 94 and 95.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that when the interposer member 62 is shifted from one of its positions to another and selects a hammer driving member, such as the hammer driving member 71, for operation and thereafter the shaft 56 is rocked counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4, the hammer driving member 71 will be rocked upwardly by the interposer member 62 riding along cam surface 79. When the hammer driving member 71 is thus rocked upwardly (FIG. 1), the latch 85 will move its shoulder 84 under the shoulder 93 on the hammer driving member 71 to hold the hammer driving member 71 and the print hammer lever 94 in their upper positions.

The print hammer lever 94 will move with the hammer driving member 71 and will remain latched by its latch 85 in its upper position while the drive arm 61 rocks back toward the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. After the drive arm 61 is disengaged from cam surface 79 and when arm 61 approaches the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, restoring member 89 will engage and rock latch 85 to release the hammer driving member 71. The hammer driving member 71 will thus be snapped downwardly under the action of its spring 82 and the projection 97 will snap the print hammer lever 94 downwardly (to the right, FIG. 4). The momentum imparted to the print hammer member 94 upon this sudden release of the latch 85 from the shoulder 93 will cause the print hammer lever 94 to over travel carrying with it the print hammer carrying member 98 and the print hammer 22 downwardly to engage the selected type pallet 20.

The print hammers 21 and 22 are held in position in a pair of hammer carrying members 98 and 99 by light springs such as the light spring 100 shown in FIG. 4. The hammer carrying members 98 and 99 are slidable in a guide block 101 and are pivoted to the print hammer levers 94 and 95. A slight amount of over throw of the print hammers 21 and 22 may thus be effected since the print hammers 21 and 22 are slidable in the carrying members 98 and 99 and held in place by their springs 100.

In the operation of the apparatus the type box support will be shifted to position to place one type pallet 20 in position under each of the print hammers 21 and 22 under control'of the first five bits of information in a received code combination. The receipt of the sixth bit or level of the code combination in the selector mechanism 12 will determine which of the two print hammers 21 or 22 is to be actuated since the No. 6 code bar 14 will be moved to either of its selectivepositions and in so doing will rock the lever 34 either clockwise or counterclockwise about its pivot post 35. If the lever 34 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 2 by the No. 6' code bar 14, the interposer member 62 will be moved to the position most clearly shown in FIG. 5, that is, to the left in FIG. 5 and conversely to the right in FIG. 2.

When the interposer member 62 is moved to this position its cross portion 65 will be positioned beneath the cam 79 on hammer driving member 71. By this operation a print hammer will be selected for operation and only that selected print hammer will be enabled for operation. After the interposer member 62 has thus selected one of the print hammer driving members 71 or 72 (in this case the driving member 71), the drive link 58 will rock the shaft 56 counterclockwise (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) thereby to rock the drive arm 61 counterclockwise which will move the hammer driving member 71 counterclockwise, while releasing the latch to permit its spring 88 to rock it clockwise and thus the latch 85 will be permitted to move its latching shoulder 84 under the shoulder 93 on the print hammer driving member 71 to latch this hammer driving member in its upper position. Toward the extreme end 'of the cycle of the operation of the apparatus the drive link 58 will be moved back to the position shown in FIG. 1 and in so doing will rock the print hammer actuating shaft 56 clockwise. As the print hammer actuating shaft 56 rocks clockwise, the restoring member 89 will engage with the latch 85 to rock the latch 85 counterclockwise causing the latching shoulder 84 to release the hammer driving member 71. Upon its release the hammer driving member 71 will be snapped downwardly (to the left in FIG. 3) by its spring 82. The projection 97 on the lever 71 is in engagement with the upper surface of the print hammer lever 94 and as a result the print hammer lever 94 will also be snapped downwardly.

When the print hammer driving member is snapped downwardly by its shoulder 93 it will strike the upper surface of the guide block 101 (left edge, FIG. 3) and since the print hammer lever is connected to the hammer driving member 71 only by a spring 96 the print hammer lever 94 will continue to travel downwardly extending the spring 96 due to its momentum. The print hammer carrying member 98 and the print hammer 22 being connected to the print hammer lever 94 through the pin 106 will be driven downwardly by the print hammer lever 94 until the print hammer 22 strikes the type pallet 20 and drives the type pallet downwardly to effect printing. It will be apparent that either the print hammer 21 or the print hammer 22 is thus selected for actuation immediately upon the receipt of the sixth bit or level of the code combination and that the nonselected print hammer 21 or 22 and its associated driving mechanism will have no movement imparted to it.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention is shown in drawings and described in the foregoing specification it will be understood that the invention is not limited to that specific embodiment, but is capable of modification and rearrangement, and substitution of parts and elements without departing from the scope 01 the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A print hammer selector and actuator for a stock quotation printer having code bar controlled means for aligning two rows of type in position for printing comprising,

a print hammer actuating shaft oscillated through a predetermined arc in each cycle of the printer;

a pair of print hammer actuators each having a cam surface;

an interposer member actuated by said shaft and shiftable with respect to said shaft into operative relation to one of said c-am surfaces by one of said code bars to actuate said print hammer actuator upon oscillation by said shaft in one direction;

a print hammer lever individual to each hammer actuator and positively moved by its hammer actuator to a set position;

a print hammer attached to each print hammer lever for actuation thereby;

means for urging said hammer actuator to snap said hammer lever to printing position;

a latch for temporarily holding said actuator lever in said set position; and

means actuated by said shaft in its oscillation in the opposite direction for tripping said latch to render the urging means operative.

2. In a stock ticker responsive to received telegraph code combination signals and having a pair of print hammers for separately effecting printing on discrete areas of a ticker tape and also having type pallets positionable in operative relation to said hammers under control of certain levels of received code combinations comprising:

means individual to each of said print hammers for causing the hammer individual to it to impinge and operatea type pallet positioned in operative relation to the hammer;

a pair of hammer operating assemblages individual to said hammers for operating said last-mentioned means;

a hammer actuating shaft oscillated through a predetermined arc in each cycle of operation of the ticker;

an interposer member driven by said shaft and shiftable with respect to said shaft;

selecting means set to one of two positions under control of another level of a received code combination for shifting said interposer member into operative relation with one of said assemblages;

a cam on each assemblage for engagement and actuation by said interposer member to set said assemblage for operation upon oscillation of said shaft in one direction;

latching means for latching said assemblage in its set position; and

means actuated by said shaft in oscillating in the opposite direction for tripping said latch to release the assemblage and effect printing.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the interposer member is carried in a drive arm fixed to the shaft and is slidable parallel to the axis of the shaft.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein the selecting means comprises a slidable plate having a guide slot formed in it into which a leg portion of the interposer extends whereby the interposer may be shifted by the slidable plate but is oscillatable by the drive arm upon oscillation of the actuating shaft.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said assemblages are spring urged toward a printing position and said means for causing the hammers to impinge a type pallet are interconnected with their assemblages by springs whereby when an assemblage is released by its latch it will snap the means for causing the hammer to impinge a type pallet to printing position.

6. In a stock ticker responsive to received telegraph code combination signals and having a pair of print hammers for separately effecting printing on discrete areas of a ticker tape and also having type pallets positionable in operative relation to said hammers under control of certain levels of received code combinations comprising:

means individual to each of said print hammers for causing the hammer individual to it to impinge and operate a type pallet positioned in operative relation to the hammer;

a pair of hammer operating assemblages individual to said hammers for operating said last-mentioned means;

a hammer actuating shaft oscillated through a predetermined arc in each cycle of operation of the ticker;

a drive arm fixed to said shaft;

an interposer member slidable in said arm in a path parallel to the axis of the shaft;

selecting means set to one of two positions under control of another level of a received code combination for shifting said interposer member into operative relation with one of said assemblages;

a cam on each assemblage for engagement and actuation by said interposer member to set said assemblage for operation upon oscillation of said shaft in one direction;

latching means for latching said assemblage in its set position; and

means actuated by said shaft in oscillating in the opposite direction for tripping said latch to release the assemblage and effect printing.

7. In a stock ticker responsive to received telegraph code combination signals for separately effecting printing on discrete areas of a ticker tape and having type pallets positionable in operative relation to said areas under control of certain levels of received code combinations,

a pair of print hammers, one disposed normal to each discrete area of the tape for engaging and actuating a type pallet positioned in operative relations to that area;

a pair of hammer carrying members individually attached to each hammer for actuating its associated hammer;

a pivot shaft;

a pair of print hammer driving levers pivoted at one end on said shaft and each pivotally supporting a print hammer carrying member on its opposite end;

a pair of print hammer actuating levers also pivoted on said pivot shaft for individually actuating said driving levers;

resilient means interconnecting each driving lever with its associated actuating lever;

a slidable plate for movement to either of two positions under control of another level of each received cocle combination for determining which one of the pair of hammer actuating levers is selected for operation;

a latching member carried by each hammer actuating lever;

a print hammer actuating shaft moved through a cycle of oscillation in each cycle of operation of the ticker;

a drive arm fixed to said hammer actuating shaft;

an interposer member slidably mounted in said drive arm and having a leg portion extending into said slidable plate for moving the interposer member with the plate;

a cam formed on each hammer driving member for separate engagement and actuation by said interposer member when said interposer member is moved by said plate to move an actuating lever to a set position;

means for urging said actuating lever to move from said set position to a print hammer operating position;

a latch individual to each latching member to hold the set hammer actuating lever in the set position, and

means driven by said hammer actuating shaft for tripping said latch out of holding relation to its hammer actuating lever and to permit the urging means to actuate the actuating lever.

No references cited.

THOMAS A. ROBINSON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PRINT HAMMER SELECTOR AND ACTUATOR FOR A STOCK QUOTATION PRINTER HAVING CODE BAR CONTROLLED MEANS FOR ALIGNING TWO ROWS OF TYPE IN POSITION FOR PRINTING COMPRISING, A PRINT HAMMER ACTUATING SHAFT OSCILLATED THROUGH A PREDETERMINED ARC IN EACH CYCLE OF THE PRINTER; A PAIR OF PRINT HAMMER ACTUATORS EACH HAVING A CAM SURFACE; AN INTERPOSER MEMBER ACTUATED BY SAID SHAFT AND SHIFTABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID SHAFT INTO OPERATIVE RELATION TO ONE OF SAID CAM SURFACES BY ONE OF SAID CODE BARS TO ACTUATE SAID PRINT HAMMER ACTUATOR UPON OSCILLATION BY SAID SHAFT IN ONE DIRECTION; A PRINT HAMMER LEVER INDIVIDUAL TO EACH HAMMER ACTUATOR AND POSITIVELY MOVED BY ITS HAMMER ACTUATOR TO A SET POSITION; 